Leah Sava Jeffries said she wants other actresses of color to have the confidence to go for any role they want, as she told Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum. In a recent interview promoting Percy Jackson and the Olympians , Jeffries feels proud of more opportunities coming for girls and women of color in the industry. “Definitely in these past couple of years, I feel like we’re getting a lot of opportunities out here, for example, The Little Mermaid with Halle Bailey. It was amazing seeing all these young Black girls,” she said. “I was super grateful to get this part because I know that Percy Jackson has this huge fanbase and Percy Jackson is a really big thing. I know that the Annabeth prototype was not how I look like.” Jeffries added that she has utilized the controversy over her playing Annabeth Chase, a traditionally white character, to help her career. “Coming into this, there was going to be some controversy, but I knew I was going to take that and put that into a...
